Vespericola ohlone Roth

Roth, Barry, 2003, Polygyrid land snails, Vespericola (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), 4. A new and possibly extinct species from central California, U. S. A., Zootaxa 215, pp. 1-6 : 3-5

Vespericola ohlone Roth , sp. nov.

( Figures 1­3 )

Mesodon (Aplodon) armigerus [Ancey], Cooper, 1887: 367, 368, 370, 374; non Vespericola armiger (Ancey, 1881) .

Vespericola columbiana pilosa (Henderson) , Pilsbry, 1940: 896 ­898, in part (record from San Pablo, Contra Costa County).

Vespericola , new species "o" Roth & Sadeghian, 2003: 37.

Type material (all, formerly contained in lot SBMNH 03357): Holotype, SBMNH 348128, CALIFORNIA: Alameda County: “Patterson’s Willows” (probably now part of Coyote Hills Regional Park, approximately 37.55° N, 122.09° W), J. G. Cooper coll. 1 Mar 1875. Paratypes (37), SBMNH 348129, from same location as holotype. Additional paratypes deposited in ANSP (2), CAS (2), USNM (2).

Referred material: CALIFORNIA: Contra Costa County: ANSP 1889 (3), San Pablo, A. D. Brown (?) coll. The collection date for this lot is unknown, but it was catalogued at ANSP between 1915 and 1919 (P. Callomon, personal communication, January 2003). Alameda County: SBMNH 0 3696 (11), collector unknown; USNM 30484 (4), Oakland, A. W. Crawford coll.; USNM 30485 (3), Oakland, A. W. Crawford coll. The latter two lots are undated, but A. W. Crawford was a resident of Oakland and active as a mollusk collector around the 1870's ( Pilsbry 1939: 63; Hanna and Smith 1954; Pressley 1983).

Distribution: Alameda and Contra Costa counties, central California, U.S.A.

Diagnosis: A medium­sized, thin­shelled, setose Vespericola with base of shell produced and somewhat excavated around umbilicus, inner quadrant of base with small shelf set off by spiral sulcus behind basal lip, inner part of basal lip angled forward, and dilation of inner end of lip weakly impinging on umbilicus.

Description: Shell diameter 11.7­15.4 mm; height 7.8­10.3 mm; height­diameter ratio 0.57­0.74. Shell thin. Periphery broadest at or just above middle of whorl; tightly rounded (sometimes with a trace of angulation, especially on early body whorl near aperture), convexly sloping toward base. Whorls 5.5­6.2. Coiling tightness 2.05­2.42. Spire conical; apical angle approximately 130°; whorls of spire flattened; suture moderately impressed to strongly impressed. Embryonic whorls 1.5­1.75; smooth for first 0.2 whorl, thereafter with crowded, irregular, papillose, radiating rugae. Early post­embryonic sculpture of retractive collabral striae and minute, overall granulation; granules axially elongated, close­set, parallel to growth striae, giving way after about third whorl to irregular collabral wrinkling. Spiral sculpture absent. Surface of periostracum radially wrinkled, pebbly to scaly on first four whorls, smoother on whorls 5­6. Periostracal setae present; borne in distinct rows, oblique to coiling direction; rows of setae descending at approximately 40­45° with respect to whorl trajectory; density of setae 12­20 per mm². Setae on spire and shoulder of body whorl 0.2­0.4 mm long; curving away from direction of coiling to mostly askew, and readily lost by abrasion; bases of setae not conspicuously broadened or forked at base. Fin­like, abapertural basal extensions of setae absent. Tips of setae not recurved. Setae on base about as long as those on spire; setation extending into umbilicus. Base of shell produced and somewhat excavated around umbilicus; inner quadrant of base with small shelf set off by spiral sulcus behind basal lip. Inner quadrant of base not spirally corrugated behind basal lip. Umbilicus of moderate width; contained 13­20 times in diameter. Body whorl behind aperture not deflected downward prior to pre­apertural constriction. Last quarter­turn (approximately) of body whorl not compressed apico­basally.

Aperture broadly ear­shaped. Peristome in lateral view shallowly concave; at angle of approximately 30 degrees to shell axis. Lip turned outward and expanded above periphery, reflected below periphery; face of expanded lip concave; basal lip not markedly more thickened than rest of peristome; inner part of basal lip angled forward; inner end of lip scarcely dilated; dilation of inner end of lip covering from less than 10% to 50% of umbilicus. Parietal callus extending only slightly to left of columella in basal view; with shallow sinus below upper limb of peristome. Parietal lamella absent. Color of fresh shell not known, museum specimens yellowish brown; lip whitish.

Dimensions of holotype: Diameter 14.5 mm; height 9.7 mm; 6.1 whorls

Etymology: Ohlone , a culture of Native American people who inhabited the San Francisco Bay area prior to the arrival of Europeans (cf. Margolin 1978).

Remarks: Vespericola ohlone , sp. nov., differs from Vespericola pilosus (Henderson, 1928) in having its base produced and somewhat excavated around the umbilicus rather than tumid and solid­looking. The inner quadrant of the base has a small shelf set off by a spiral sulcus behind the basal lip, not found in V. p i l o s u s. The inner part of the basal lip is angled forward toward the front of the umbilicus, whereas that of V. p i l o s u s is straight or gently curved forward (see Roth & Miller, 1993: 136, figs. 1­3).

The new species differs from Vespericola marinensis Roth & Miller, 1993 , in having its base produced and somewhat excavated around the umbilicus rather than tumid and solid­looking. The inner quadrant of the base has a small shelf set off by a spiral sulcus behind the basal lip, not found in V. marinensis . The inner part of the basal lip of V. m a r i n ­ ensis is gently curved forward, rather than angled as in V. o h l o n e (see Roth & Miller, 1993: 140, figs. 14­16).

Vespericola armiger (Ancey, 1881) , to which Cooper (1887) referred this species, differs in that its umbilicus is a minute, oblique perforation, nearly or completely covered by dilation of the inner lip; the inner end of the basal lip is briefly angled forward then angled backward over the umbilicus (see Pilsbry, 1940: 910, fig. 521a). A parietal lamella is present in V. armiger but is absent in V. ohlone .

Figures

FIGURES 1 ­ 3. Vespericola ohlone Roth, sp. nov. Holotype, SBMNH 348128, Patterson’s Willows, Alameda County, California. Top, apertural, and basal views of shell. Diameter (exclusive of outer lip) 14.5 mm; scale bar = 5 mm.